Car door fastener



Aug. 20, 1940. s. J. STRID 2,211,963

can noon FASTENER v 7 Filed July 18, 19:58 2 Sh eets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYSAug. 20, 1940. s. J; STRID 2,211,963

GAR DOOR FASTENER Filed July 18, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY JVf/V J dr/P/a A TTORNEYS Patented Aug. 20, 1940 ATENT OFFECE GARDOOR FASTENER Sven J. Strid, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 18, 1938, Serial No. 219,904

2 Claims.

This invention relates to railway cars and more particularly tomechanism for automatically latching and holding swinging car doors whenthe doors are swung to open position.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new doorfastener mechanism having novel means for causing the interlocking ofthe parts of the latching mechanism on the car door.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new andimproveddoor fastener mechanism having novel means for causing automaticinterlocking of the parts and so constructed that accuracy in theapplication of the parts to the door and car are unnecessary.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improveddoor latching mechanism in which both latch and keeper stand at rightangles to the planes of the members to which they are attached and yetare so constructed that the latch and keeper properly cooperate to holdthe door in open position at various angles to the side wall of the carregardless of whether the door is hinged at its front or rear edge.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improveddoor fastener that is simple and rugged in construction, inexpensive tomanufacture, easily applied, and that is efiicient in operation.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appearfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a preferred form of thedevice;

Fig. 2 is a section on the broken line 22 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the latch plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the keeper plate shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of construction;

Fig. 6 is a section on the broken line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the keeper plate shown in Figs. 5 and 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a further modified form of construction;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a further modified form of keeper;

Fig. 11 is a section on the line ll--ll of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a section on the line l2l2 of Fig. 13; and

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway car shown more orless diagrammatically, with parts broken away.

In refrigerator cars, as at present constructed, hinged doors areemployed which swing outwardly. The Association of American Railroadsrules require that means be provided for fastening the doors forsecurely holding the same when they are swung to open position. Doorholding devices are designed to be applied to doors having hinges ofvarious constructions so that the angularity of the door when held inopen'position will vary more or less. Furthermore, the angle formed bythe door and side wall of the car will vary depending on the position ofthe latch mechanism on the door. The closer to the free edge of the doorthe same is applied, the more acute will be the angle between the doorand side wall. It is desirable that latching and keeper mechanism beprovided that will cooperate to hold the door in open positionregardless of variations in the angularity of the door relative to thecar side wall.

The present invention is designed to accommodate variations in thisangle and is an improvement on the construction shown in United StatesLetters Patent 1,936,921, granted to me on November 28, 1933.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference character HJ designates arailway car which, for the purpose of description, may be regarded as arefrigerator car having the hinged doors H and 12 mounted on the sidewall thereof. These doors are provided with conventional hinges l3 and14 which permit the doors to be swung to closed position in alignmentwith the side wall l5 of the car or to be swung to open position forpermitting access to the interior of the car in the conventional manner.

The present invention relates to mechanism for holding the doors in openposition. In the form of the construction selected to illustrate oneembodiment of the invention, a door fastener 15, Figs. 1 and 2, isemployed for this purpose. The fastener comprises a latch mechanism I1and a keeper device I 8. The latch mechanism comprises an attachingplate l9 having suitable apertures 21 and 22 in the ends thereof bymeans of which the plate is attached to the car door. This plate has alug or stud 23 integral with, or attached to, its'outer face. This lugis provided with a substantially horizontal opening 24 for the receptionof a hinge pintle, as will presently appear. A latch or latch memberhaving its inner end bifurcated as at 26 is pivoted to the lug or stud23. The furcations 26 are adapted to receive the lug 23 between them andthey are provided with aligned openings which are adapted to registerwith the opening 24 in the lug for receiving the hinge pintle 2 Thelatch 25 comprises the rear or pivoted portion 28 having a portion 29extending below the hinge pintle 21 for engaging the plate I! forlimiting the downward movement of the latch 25 to a substantiallyhorizontal position as shown in Fig. 2 whereby the latch is held inposition to receive the keeper bar when the door is swung to openposition, as will presently appear. The outer portion 50 of thisextension projects beyond the end of the lug 23 when the latch is inelevated position whereby it is adapted to be engaged by the keeper barwhen the door is opened for lowering the latch in event it should stickin its elevated position, for any reason whatever.

The latch is also provided with a nose portion 3| which extendsdownwardly for engaging the keeper bar and the bar engaging surface iscurved about a vertical axis as shown by dotted lines at 32 in Fig. 1.The latch is also provided with an upstanding projection 34 constitutinga thumb piece for elevating the latch manually for releasing the same.The outer portion or nose 3| of the latch is provided with an inclinedor cam like surface which, as shown, is in the form of a curve in avertical plane or about a horizontal axis. This cam surface is adaptedto engage the keeper for causing the latch to be forced upwardly forengaging the keeper bar, as will appear hereafter.

The attaching plate I9 is elongated and has its longitudinal axisarranged at an angle to the vertical plane of the latch 25 in order thatthe attaching bolts or screws that extend through the openings 2| and 22may be readily applied, that is, by arranging the attaching plate at anangle to the plane of the latch, the latch will not interfere with theinsertion and removal of the attaching bolts or screws. 4

The keeper l8, Figs. 1, 2 and 4, comprises an attaching or base plate 35having the openings 36 and 3! therein for receiving the attaching screwsor bolts by means of which the device is attached to the side wall ofthe car. The plate 35 has integral therewith the forwardly extendingarms 38 and 39 spaced apart as shown in Fig. l which are connected attheir outer or forward ends to a keeper bar 4| which is preferablyintegral therewith. The bar 4| is provided on its inner side with a;surface 42, which may be on the arc of a circle, curved about ahorizontal axis and provided with a flat face 60 which is adapted to beengaged by the curved surface 32 on the inner side of the nose SI of thelatch. The bar 4| is preferably, though not necessarily, circular incross-section except for the flat face 60. By means of this arrangement,it W11]. be seen that in any angular position of the latch mechanism,the flat portion 60 of the latch bar 4| will be engaged by the latch andthis flat surface will be tangent to the curved surface 32 on the latchmember. This arrangement obviates the necessity for arranging either thelatch plate I! or the keeper plate H3 at an acute angle to the plane ofthe latch 25 or the arms 38 or 39 of the keeper. In other words, theplate I! is at right angles to the axis of the lug 23 and the plate I8is parallel with the bar 4 I.

The keeper bar 4| may be angular in crosssection, as shown, or it may befiat on its upper and lower surfaces, but in any event, its innersurface, or the surface that is engaged by the curved portion 32 of thelatch, is fiat so that irrespective of the angularity of the door, thecurved portion 32 of the latch will engage the fiat portion of thekeeper bar in the same manner. The outer surface 4|) of the keeper bar4| is curved so that when the curved portion 30 of the nose 3| contactsthe same, it will cause the latch to move upward to pass over the barand fall by gravity behind this bar 4| for holding the door in its openposition.

When it is desired to close the door, the handle portion 34 is manuallyforced upwardly and toward the door for releasing the latch and then thedoor may be swung to closed position.

In all forms of the device, the latch bar is adapted to engage the lugto which the latch is attached forlimiting the opening movement of thedoor. In all forms of the construction, the latch is provided with adownward projection inwardly of the pivot pin for limiting the downwardmovement of the latch when the same is released from the bar and forholding it in position to be engaged by the latch when the door isopened. In all forms of the construction, the keeper has its latch barso constructed that it may be used inconnection with either the right orleft door of the car.

In the form of the construction where the latch bar is parallel with theattaching plate, it is immaterial whether it is turned upside down whenused with a door that swings to the right as compared with one swingingto the left but in the forms where the keeper bar is arranged at anangle to the base or attaching plate, the keeper must be inverted inchanging from one to the other but since the keeper bar is circular orat least curved on its inner and outer surfaces, the device will operateequally as well in either position.

In Figs. 5, 6 and '7 is shown a modified form of construction. In thisform of the device, the latch mechanism I7 is substantially the same asthat already described and its description need not be repeated.

The keeper member 43 is of a different construction from that previouslydescribed and comprises an attaching plate 44 having openings 45therethrough for receiving attaching screws or bolts and is provided ateach side thereof with forwardly extending arms 45 and 41 spaced apartand connected at their forward ends by a latch bar 48 which ispreferably, though not necessarily, circular in cross-section betweenthe arms 45 and 4'! except for its latch engaging flat portion 70. Theaxis of the bar 48 is arranged at an acute angle to the plane of thebase or plate r 44. In other words, one of the arms 46 is shorter thanthe other arm 47 but since the bar has a fiat surface 15 which isadapted to be engaged by the curved surface 32 of the latch 25, thisflat surface is tangent to the curved surface 32 of the latch member inall positions of the latch and bar. The angle of the latch bar 48 is atan acute angle to the plate 44 and the bar is substantially parallelwith the plate H of the latching mechanism. Consequently, the axis ofthe latch will be at right angles to the bar 48.-

In the form of the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9; the keepermember I8 is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 andcomprises the attaching plate 35 having the for- Wardly extending arms38 and 39 connected together at their outer ends by the latch bar 4| asin the previous construction. In this form of construction, the latchmechanism is provded wth an attaching plate 49 having a laterallyextending lug 5i rigidly attached to or integral therewith. The axis ofthe lug 5! is arranged at an acute angle to the plate Q9 and has pivotedthereto a latch member 52 which is of substantially the sameconstruction as the latch member 25 of Fig. 2. The angle of the lug 5!is such that when the plate 49 is attached to the car door and the dooris swung to open position, the axis of the lug will be at right anglesto the bar 4!. The latch member 52 is pivoted to the lug 5! as describedabove and is provided with a nose 53 having its outer end curved as at54 as in the previous construction. The bar engaging portion 55 of thenose 53 is also curved for engaging the curved surface 56 of the bar itin a manner similar to that already described.

In Figs. 18 and 11 is shown a further modified form of keeper member. Inthis form of construction, keeper member Bi is similar to keeper [8 inFigs. 1 and 2 except the keeper bar 62 is more or less oblong incross-section and has its forward edge 53 on the arc of a circle withthe latch member extending along the radius thereof. If desired, theinner edge 64 may also be on a similar arc whereby the latch member willalso extend radially of the inner surface. The front and rear surfacesof the bar may be curved about a horizontal axis with a flat portion 55on they rear surface of the bar, as shown in Fig. 11. This flat surfaceis adapted to be engaged by the curved surface of the latch as in theconstruction described above. The flat surface 65 may be omitted, ifdesired. 1

In the operation of the device, when the door is thrown to openposition, the keeper bar engages the nose of the latch and forces thelatter upwardly for permitting the latch topass over the bar and fallinto position behind the same by gravity. The engagement of the lug 23with the bar 4! limits the swinging movement of the door. When the dooris to be closed, the latch 25 is manually lifted and the door swung toclosed position.

It is thoughtfrom the foregoing, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, that the construction and operation of my devicewill be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size,shape, proportion and details of construction may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a railway car having a side wall member and a door member hingedto said wall member,

a keeper secured to one of said members, latch mechanism secured to theother of said members, said latch mechanism comprising an attachingplate, 2. lug extending outwardly from said plate, a latch memberpivotally supported by said attaching plate and having a downwardextension, said extension engaging said plate for limiting the downwardmovement of said latch member to a horizontal position, said extensionprojecting beyond the outer end of said lug only when said latch is inelevated position, for lowering said latch, said keeper being adaptedto'engage said lug for limiting the opening movement of said door and toengage the extension on said latch member for lowering the same from itselevated position.

2. In a railway car having a side wall member and a door member hingedto said wall member, a rigid keeper secured to one of said members,latch supporting means secured to the other of said members, said latchsupporting means comprising an attaching plate, a pivotally mountedlatch carried by said means for engaging said keeper, a lug rigid withsaid plate for engaging said rigid keeper for limiting the openingmovement, of said door, cooperating means on said latch and latchsupporting means for limiting the downward movement of said latch beyonda horizontal plane and cooperating means on said latch and keeper forautomatically lowering said latch into engagement with said keeper whenthe door is opened. I

SVEN J. S'I'RID.

